Maya Angelou's Wise Words - 'The Human Family’ | Poet | United Nations Archives

Take a look back to when American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou recited her poem ‘The Human Family’ during the gathering for the United Nations Development Fund for Women's Achievement Awards in 1996. This beautiful and powerful poem celebrates our diversity, reminding us that we have more in common than not: “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.”

Utilizing material from the UN Audiovisual Library, this production explores the historic session as captured by UN media coverage.

About the UN Audiovisual Library:
The Audiovisual Library collects, manages and preserves the United Nations audiovisual archives (audio, film and video collections) and make them accessible to a worldwide clientele including broadcasters, independent producers, governments, educational and cultural institutions, non-governmental organizations, as well as international organizations.

Explore: https://media.un.org/avlibrary/

Lyrics
It is time for the preachers, the rabbis, the priests
Pundits and the professors
To believe in the awesome wonder of diversity
It is time for parents to teach young people early on
That in diversity, there is beauty, and there is strength
I note the obvious differences in the human family
Some of us are serious, some thrive on comedy
Some declare their lives are lived as true profundity
And others claim they really live the real reality
The variety of our skin tones can confuse, bemuse, delight
Brown and pink, and beige, and purple, tan and blue, and white
I've sailed upon the seven seas and stopped in every land
I've seen the wonders of the world
Not yet one common man
I know ten thousand women called Jane and Mary Jane
I've not seen any two who really were the same
(Mirror twins are different, although, their features jibe)
And lovers think quite different thoughts
While lying side by side
We love and lose in China
We weep on England's moors
We laugh and moan in Guinea
And thrive on Spanish shores
We seek success in Finland
Are born and die in Maine
In minor ways, we differ
In major, we're the same
I note the obvious differences between each sort and type
But we are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike
We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike
We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike
Our young must be taught
That brain-shock, peculiarities do exist
Back then, beneath the skin, beyond the different features
And into the true heart of being
Fundamentally, we are more alike, my friend, than we are unalike
We all should note that diversity makes for enriched tapestry
And we must understand that all the traits of the tapestry are equal in value
No matter their colour
Equal and important, no matter their texture

Edit Provided by: UN Video